Plagued by porch pirates? This NASA engineer set a glitter-bomb package

The thief opens the package and boom -- glitter everywhere. Then the fart spray comes in.

By

MikeMurphy

Editor

Revenge can be sweet. And as a new video proves, it can also be sparkly and stinky.

While millions of Americans are dealing this holiday season with the frustrating scourge of so-called porch pirates — thieves who snatch packages off their doorstep — one YouTube star decided to do something about it.

Mark Rober, a NASA engineer and YouTube personality with more than 4 million followers who is known for his elaborate science experiments and homemade gadgets, posted a wickedly ingenious new video Monday titled “Package Thief vs. Glitter Bomb Trap” which is, well, pretty self-explanatory.

Rober said he worked six months to develop a device that won’t prevent packages from getting stolen, but would result in the thieves getting covered in glitter and fart spray. The video shows Rober constructing the “package,” which includes cellphone cameras to watch the thieves’ reactions, a device to spray a pound of glitter when the package is opened, and a tracking system to recover it all after the robbers dump it. The result is as satisfying as it is technically impressive:

The video, which Rober said “might be my Magnum Opus,” surpassed more than 1 million views on YouTube, a unit of Alphabet Inc.’s
GOOGL, +0.74%GOOG, +0.77%
Google, in a matter of hours Monday.

Package theft is seldom such a laughing matter. A 2017 report by InsuranceQuotes.com found almost 26 million Americans reported having packages stolen from their porch or doorstep during the holidays. A separate report by Package Guard estimated the average value of stolen packages is between $50 and $100. Do a little math, and that would put holiday-season losses due to package theft at more than $1 billion.

Most insurance plans do not cover package theft, and since most of us aren’t going to construct our own glitter bombs, experts recommend requiring a signature for deliveries, lock-box delivery services, having packages delivered to your workplace, or the good old-fashioned method of asking your neighbors if your packages can be dropped off at their house, as long as they’re home.

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